Matt Shanahan and Tánaiste Michéal Martin clash over Waterford investment

During a recent Leader’s Questions session in the Dáil, Waterford’s Deputy Matt Shanahan and Tánaiste Micheal Martin disagreed regarding the level of government investment in Waterford, with Shanahan commenting that the county is “being played by this government”.

The Deputy raised the lack of state delivery to Waterford and the further South East, saying: “The bottom line is, the runway extension is not happening, just as the promised South East Technological University, SETU, capital investment is not happening and just as our promised cardiac care expansion and investment in our stroke services and acute care capacity is not happening. There is no investment in University Hospital Waterford at all.” 

Tánaiste Michéal Martin responded, “I have listened to the same Leaders' Questions from Deputy Shanahan for four years now. I do not believe he is being fair in his description of the economic, educational or health development and expansion in Waterford."

The Tánaiste cited strong employment, investment into the North Quays project and an increase of investment into UHW since 2019 as key indicators of government commitment to Waterford.

Deputy Shanahan said, “I do not want to accuse the Tánaiste, in reading out those statements, of living in a parallel universe when it comes to Waterford but they do not reflect the reality of the situation.” 

The Tánaiste added, “I disagree with the Deputy,” to which Shanahan responded, “Disagree away; those are the facts.”